Any Gooner who watched Arsenal struggle against 10 man Fulham at Craven Cottage may be surprised at the staistics, especially the one that shows that the Gunners registered an astonishing 90 percent pass success rate, with 84 percent of their final third passes finding the target as well. Arsenal also made nearly three times as many passes as Fulham in the game.

Both Londoners, media darlings and wrapped in St George patriotism, Harry Redknapp and David Beckham are a super-bromance just waiting to happen.Despiteperceivedwisdom that the former England skipper would be out of his depth in the top tier of football, he has always been backed by a splurge of superlatives from good ol' Harry.

Talking Tactics: How is Brendan Rodgers changing the philosophy at Liverpool? is a post from:
Just Football

Brendan Rodgers' Anfield career has already been an eventful one. Liverpool put
behind them a humiliating 3-0 defeat at West Brom on the opening day of the Premier
League season, by recording a hard-fought 1-0 win away over Hearts in a Europa League
play-off match.

1. If Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel was a golfer, he'd have finished yesterday on level par (and
probably be barred from the clubhouse due to the tattoos and shaved head). 2. Any Manchester United
fans hoping that David De Gea had spent at least some of his summer learning how to deal with
crosses were [.

Second match of the new season, second draw of the new season. We are still level on the goal
difference chart because we've neither scored any goal nor have we conceded any. Not so good for
the first one but particularly pleasing for the second one.

This is the last of the look at the squad and we're at the forward line now. On the official
website, there are 9 players listed there. One, we would not talk about because at this point, he's
probably looking at what's the best route to got to Old Trafford. There's another 2 more which also
doesn't warrant mention because just like the one before, they are on the verge (in the loosest
sense) of leaving the club.

Last night at Livestrong Sporting Park, Kansas City played their second friendly of the season
against Stoke City of the English Premier League. With a team made up mainly of the Swope Park
Rangers, Sport held their own against the Premier League side drawing 1-1 in what would probably be
considered a fair result.

1. Jose Mourinho vs Sir Alex Ferguson? It might as well have been Tony Pulis vs Joe Kinnear. Set-pieces and crosses were what this was all about. 2. Cristiano Ronaldo laughs in the face of gravity. He hung in the air to head in his goal. 3. David De Gea made one of the best [...]

Ingenious. Got a keeper who's a bit dubious underneath the high ball? Simply place a sign saying 'CLAIMS SPECIALISTS' behind his goal facing the opposition strikers for the entire match. They won't even bother crossing the ball anymore knowing that the goalie would only claim it from the air like a specialist in any case.

Nigel Winterburn made nearly 700 league appearances in his career, most of them for Arsenal during his 13 years at Highbury. He has seen the team change alot over the years from the George Graham era through Arsene Wenger's remodelling of the team.

The former defender thinks that the current Arsenal team are missing a trick and squandering the talents of their new French striker, Olivier Giroud.

There was a moment in today's game where you sensed that something had changed with this Arsenal
side. Lukas Podolski had just put us into the lead after an electric break involving Santi Cazorla,
but up until then the match had been fairly even, so a response was expected.

Liverpool v Arsenal â€“ Player Ratings by AM Mannone â€“ 6 He wasn't disturbed in the first half,
but didn't look quite confident handling crosses and aerial balls. Made one good save from Shelvey,
but spilled another from the same player and must be thankful to Vermaelen for being first to the
rebound.

The young right-back Carl Jenkinson seems to be set to be Bacary Sagna's understudy while Arsenal
wait for their first-choice defender to recover from his second broken leg, and the youngster has
admitted that Arsene Wenger has already told him that he wants to push forward down the wing as
much as possible to try [.

After failing to shut out their opponents in their last fifteen league matches, a run that
started in May, last night the Timbers finally were able to keep their opponents off the board in a
herculean defensive effort. The Timbers didn't quite click on the offensive end of things but the
team were able to put together several moments of magic in the first half that let them keep the
pressure on Colorado and put one in the back of the net.

The Portland Timbers rolled out a modified 4-5-1 and actually looked decent going forward.
However none of the chances actually created a goal and in the end it cost Portland the game.
Chivas USA scored the only goal of the game past the hour mark. 1-0 loss.

First Half

Brent Richards was rewarded with his first start of his career and Portland played Darlington
Nagbe and Diego Chara played the attacking base in an inverted pyramid in the center.

Dealing with recent travel problems, wet & heavy grass and the peculiarities of CONCACAF
officiating the Seattle Sounders pushed by Caledonia AIA in a game that in many ways was a
repetition of the last meeting. Three goals for the Sounders v one pk goal by the Trinidad side.
Scoring was opened by Alex Caskey on assists by Zach Scott and Sammy Ochoa.

For the first time this season, we can look at the Seattle Sounders roster and make reasonable
decisions about their Best XI. Whether or not we all agree on what that Best XI is, the candidates
are all healthy and available. There are at least a few positions where there's some good debate to
be had, but the one I find most interesting is at left mid where three players are already vying
for the starting spot and a couple more could be entering the conversation soon.

After every match this season, the staff here at The Bent Musket will be putting together player
ratings. Ratings are on a 1-10 scale, with 5 representing a thoroughly average performance, and 6 a
decent/capable showing. The final ratings will be averages of individual ratings from Corey Major
and Brendan Schimmel.

One of the more popular questions after someone produces a standout performance is often times,
"well, what will he do for an encore?". After a double in his first match against Morocco, and then
scoring the only goal in the match that eliminated Spain, fans across the soccer universe were
wondering what the newly-minted Revolution DP striker was going to do against Japan, in a match
that Honduras needed a result in to go through.

Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea staked his claim to move above Victor Valdes in the Spain
pecking order with this daring piece of skill during Saturday's win over Fulham. Now, if only he
could catch crosses...

Something that flew somewhat under the radar this past week was the announcement that Marcello
Trotta has signed a new contract with the club. For those that reacted to news, the response was
pretty muted, with many expressing a mild surprise that the club had seen sufficient talent and
upside to offer new terms.

Something that flew somewhat under the radar this past week was the announcement that Marcello
Trotta has signed a new contract with the club. For those that reacted to news, the response was
pretty muted, with many expressing a mild surprise that the club had seen sufficient talent and
upside to offer new terms.

Aspiring coach Sean Monaghan was in attendance off Burnside to witness some Ferreira
wizardry.

A hot Sunday afternoon at Jeld-Wen Field greeted two teams struggling to heat up in the Western
Conference, PortlandÂ and FC Dallas. Both teams started the game out playing 4-2-3-1, with Scott
Sealy and Kris Boyd the lone strikers for theirÂ respective teams.

The Timbers held a closed practice at their Beaverton training facility as they returned from
their midweek day off. Where Wednesday's practice seemed somewhat unsettled at times, today saw the
team out and joking with each other from the get go.

After the usual running, the team broke into groups for games of keep away and Gavin Wilkinson
yelled for the "privileged kids" to get in the middle.

The Rest

We've all laughed or moaned at keepers who flap at crosses, but even David James at the height of his video games obsession would have struggled to make a miscalculation quite this bad. Inter Milan goalie Samir Handanovic completed misjudged a cross from Antonio Candreva and ended up backheeling the ball into his net mid-flight [.

The Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud took some time to find his feet in the Premiership this season, but now he seems to score every week, and usually it is because of crosses sent into the box by Theo Walcott.

The Frenchman thinks that his patnership with the contract rebel, who wants to replace Giroud as centre-forward, is a match made in heaven if Walcott sticks to his wing play and keeps supplying him with goalscoring chances.

Another draw. Who was it that said a tie is like kissing your sister? At the rate the Union have
been going, we'll be making out with our sister by the end of the year. Not a pretty thought.
Please Union, finish some chances to save us from our sisters! Enough with this analogy. Due to the
almost comical results of the Union's play recently, I thought limericks might be in order for the
recap.

Second match in a row that we have looked devoid of ideas, got a goal out of nothing, and thenÂ
concededÂ late on. Long balls,Â panickyÂ defending, the team looks as scared as a new born lamb
walking down Tottenham high road late at night.

The first half was utter tosh. From Lennon there were a fewÂ successfulÂ crosses but more attempted
and failed ones, mixed in with some some promising, yet fruitless runs by Bale.

Sunday night our Chicago Fire return home to take on the third-place Houston Dynamo at Toyota
Park as they look to improve upon the insipid 4-2 loss in the nation's capital to D.C. United from
last Wednesday. Houston will be coming off a 1-1 draw in Thursday night's CONCACAF Champions League
game in Honduras and will try to improve their league standing after two disappointing home draws
against Columbus and Toronto.

Bright start, on top early, turning to complete domination as the first half progresses.
Creating a steady stream of chances that cry out for a finish, a mere touch but the crosses find
only fresh air. Playing well after the break but gradually tire as the other lot come into it more.
Defensive calamities suddenly appear where before there was calm and serenity.

Preview:
Arsenal will travel to Stoke City on Sunday afternoon, for a fixture that hasn't been a
particularly good one for them in the recent years. Last week's disappointing, yet encouraging
performance creates a mixed atmosphere, and divided opinions before the clash.Britannia Stadium - not a happy place:The last time Arsenal went to Stoke, they came away
with the solitary point.

If the traffic and the crammed parking on the way into the AC Milan vs. Olimpia match at
Gillette Stadium was any indication, the Razor should have been rocking and loud as a tremendously
entertaining match between two heavyweights of their domestic leagues ensued. Only half of that
came to pass; the match was entertaining but the crowd was unusually sparse as Milan dusted up the
Honduran champs 3-1 behind masterful goals and creative play from Robinho and Antonio Nocerino.

The Timbers held a closed practice at their Beaverton training facility today. Practice started
off tense and somewhat discombobulated as Gavin Wilkinson introduced some new drills under a cloudy
sky, with striker Kris Boyd looking fed up with his teammates inability to grasp the drills which
emphasized making runs and one-two passes.

After every match this season, the staff here at The Bent Musket will be putting together player
ratings. Ratings are on a 1-10 scale, with 5 representing a thoroughly average performance, and 6 a
decent/capable showing. The final ratings will be averages of individual ratings from Corey Major,
Matty Jollie, Abram Chamberlain, and Brendan Schimmel.

Megan Rapinoe had yet another great game in the 2012 Olympics. She had one assist and one goal
in the match against Colombia today. In a match that was chippy and uneven, Rapinoe was able to
focus and carry the match. It seemed as if the Colombian's game plan was to disrupt and slow the
game any chance they got.

Not all of the Sounder at Heart nicknames stick, and this one hasn't, but Cordell Cato still
offers some of Katniss. He's speed is so notable (the fire) that many overlook his other skill
sets. Cato's passing is best demonstrated by his low, quick crosses at about 20 yards out. His
dribble is good enough that he isn't going to give it up often and he reads the game well enough
that he generally doesn't push himself past his skill set.